By Rob Klein
For the second time in as many days, a synagogue in Australia’s largest city has been defaced with antisemitic graffiti including swastikas.
This time, the Newtown Synagogue in Sydney’s Inner West area was the target. This comes hours after a similar incident at Southern Sydney Synagogue in Allawah. These acts of vandalism, described by officials and community leaders as deliberate acts of hate, have drawn widespread condemnation and calls for stronger action against antisemitism.
New South Wales Police reported they were alerted to the vandalism at the synagogue on Georgina Street around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. Officers discovered red swastikas defacing the front of the building.
Earlier that morning, graffiti had also been reported at a home on Henry Street, Queens Park, and offensive comments were found on a poster on Marrickville Road. Investigations into all incidents are ongoing.
The vile graffiti we’ve seen overnight, including at the Newtown Synagogue, is abhorrent and needs to stop immediately.
Australia is a better place than this.
We made it illegal to use Nazi and other hate symbols because there’s no place in Australia for antisemitism.
The…
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 11, 2025
David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, condemned the attacks, calling them a deliberate campaign of hate.
“It should sicken us all that for the second time in two days, a Jewish place of worship has been targeted,” Ossip said. “No one should think that these are just acts of vandalism. This is a concerted campaign to intimidate, harass and menace the Jewish community.”
Lynda Ben Menashe, president of the NSW National Council of Jewish Women, expressed her personal distress at the attack on the synagogue.
“Sydney’s Newtown Synagogue, which my mother’s family helped found and in which I grew up, is the latest target of what NSW Premier Chris Minns calls the ‘bastards’ with hate in their hearts,” she said. “Note the addition of the Z [for Zionists] in the middle [of the graffiti], which shows that there is absolutely no distinction now between anti-Zionism and straight-out Jew hatred.
“This rampant racism on the streets of our cities will surely be an election issue for all Australians, because thinking people know what happens in and to a country when this becomes a daily occurrence,” Ben Menashe said.
Julian Leeser MP warned that attacks on Jewish sites are escalating.
“Another day and another attack on a synagogue. This time in Newtown. Sadly, no one is shocked or surprised,” he said. “Newtown is a hotbed of antisemitism. The Greens MP for Newtown, Jenny Leong, is known for invoking a Goebbels trope by claiming Jewish people have tentacles. In recent hours, Ms. Leong has invoked concern about fires in L.A. but is totally silent about what has happened to a local synagogue in her community.”
Leeser called for a national response to address the rise in antisemitic incidents.
“The status quo is not acceptable. National Cabinet should be convened, and serious mandatory penalties resulting in imprisonment put in place across the country for those who target Jewish synagogues, community centers and communities with antisemitic language and symbols,” he said.
The attack on Newtown Synagogue follows the Southern Sydney Synagogue incident, where swastikas were spray-painted on a synagogue early on Friday morning. Police have released CCTV footage of two masked individuals believed to be responsible. Authorities have vowed to apprehend and prosecute those involved.
“[There is] no place in Australia, our tolerant multicultural community, for this sort of criminal activity,” Reuters quoted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as saying on Friday, referring to the Southern Sydney Synagogue incident.
As incidents of antisemitism escalate, calls for decisive action have grown louder. Community leaders and officials stress the urgent need to combat this rising tide of hate and ensure that Australia remains a safe and respectful society for all.
Originally published by J-Wire.
